State Fair Noodle Bowls

I went to a very special event last weekend.  The GRAND OPENING and open house for an airbnb called "The Smith House" in Ord, NE.  The reason it was so special is because it was my forever home.  My sister, #3, bought the house after my dad passed away 1.5 years ago and has spent all this time renovating it.  It is cozy perfection, fit for a king and my parents would be so proud.

What does this have to do with this recipe you ask?  While I was there, my sister gave me an old ramen noodle cookbook that she found in the house.  She knows my secret, or not so secret love for ramen.  In it, there is a section of noodle bowls.  Hubby and I got on a roll of different kinds of noodle bowls we could do.  He said, "remember the smell of the sausage, onion and peppers at the fair"?  How could I forget?!  He asked if I could make THAT into a ramen bowl.  I agreed we could do it on pork flavored ramen and wa-laa.  Here. We. Are.

This recipe I am just making for 2! It's easy to double or triple. I am going heavy on the protein.

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3 pkgs Pork Ramen (chicken or beef would work as well)

1 Red Bell Pepper sliced into narrow strips 

1/2 of a small Yellow Onion also sliced thin.

5 links of Sweet or Hot Italian Sausage (cut into thick chunks)

1 TBSP oil (olive or veg)

1 TBSP butter

Salt to taste

1 tsp Italian Seasoning

In a deep skillet add in your oil and butter until butter is melted.  Add in peppers and onions along with Italian seasoning and salt. Stir often for 5 to 7 minutes until they are very soft.  If you cut them thicker they may take up to 10 minutes.  Add in sausage and continue to fry until cooked all the way through.  When this is done, cover and remove from heat.  Prepare your ramen however you prefer, stovetop or microwave.  Drain off almost all of the water when done and add in seasoning packets.  You can choose to leave water for broth as well, we just prefer no broth on this one.  To serve, place noodles in the bottom of your bowl and top with a generous spoonful of your sausage, peppers and onions mixture.  

ENJOY!

PS.  Got leftover sausage and peppers?  Toss those bad boys on a toasted roll, maybe with some provolone for lunch!

Haluski

Hey, hey, hey! Good to see you all again!  Summer is coming!  Yeahhh! I love Spring myself but hot summer days make me happy too.

Today I am sharing haluski with you. It is a super easy, one pot dish. Popular in variations in Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia etc.  It is SO good and you can use pancetta, bacon, or Kielbasa for your protein! Got to love options!

This is definitely a less than 30 minute recipe and all you need is one pot and a spoon. I make mine a little different than most people. You can add chopped onion but we skip it! Let's get to it!

VIDEO!

You will need:

1 ring of Kielbasa 

3 Tbsp Butter

1 small Head of Cabbage

2 Tbsp mined Garlic

4 cups Chicken Broth

12 oz bag of Egg Noodles

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large pot add in Kielbasa cut into coins.  Lightly brown and then add in butter.  Let melt and drop in your garlic (and onion if using it).  Let cook while stirring for 2 minutes then add in cabbage shredded or chopped small. This will start to wilt down, stir and cook for approx 5 minutes.  Stir constantly!  Next is the chicken stock. Add it in let come to a boil, when it does add in egg noodles.  Give it a good stir.  The stock won't come to the top but don't panic.  Put the lid on and cook for the time suggested on the noodle package.  Stir a couple times and get the lid back on!  When it is done Stir again and let sit 5 minutes before serving.  Delicious!

ENJOY!

Cheesy Chicken Rice Pressure Cooking!

Evening friends!  I hope this finds everyone well, sane, and keeping up the health precautions recommended.  I pray nothing but the best for you all!

As you may or may not know from my last post, I got a Crock Pot, Multi-Cooker for Mother's Day!  YASSSSS!  Seriously!!  I was never going to jump on this pressure cooking bandwagon and I did good for 3 or 4 years, but....I WAAAAAAANTED one!

I wanted to create a recipe that was quarantine friendly.  Pantry and freezer staples that I thought you might already have on hand.  I tried a recipe from a blog I will not name and was a mess.  A MESS.  I did some tweaking, changed ingredients and measurements and it was delish..  I made it again, for this video and post and it was AMAZING!  My grand-babies went nuts for it, my husband AND myself.  That being said, with 5 people eating we still had half left.  It makes a good size batch but leftovers are da bomb!

Let's make this one short and sweet so I can get this out to you and figure out the next pressure cooker experiment!  Sorry I am late to the Instapot/Multi-cooker/Pressure Cooking life, but I am officially here for it now!

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1T butter
1T oil (veg or olive)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups long grain rice (NOT instant)
1-1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup

Set your pot on saute.  Melt butter and oil.  Add in chicken and stir while it gets some color.  Add in salt and pepper.  There is no need to cook chicken all the way through.  Just get it browned up a bit and then add chicken broth, and rice.  Stir.  Place lid on pressure cooker, lock, and make sure your steam valve is CLOSED.   Using your MANUAL button or the button assigned to that function, adjust time to 6 minutes.  Now we wait!

When it is done and has come down from pressure, remove lid away from you and add in soup and cheese.  Stir completely and eat dinner!  We ate this with a big huge salad and it was perfect!
Remember leftovers rock and so do second day leftovers!

I hope you enjoy this recipe.  Oh and YES  you can use boneless skinless thighs!

ENJOY!

Italian Style Meatloaf

Good Saturday evening my friends!

Oh what a beautiful day it has been!  I have 3 of my grandchildren today and overnight and the sun is shining and they took a long nap and ahhh......

My husband has been asking me to make him Italian meatloaf and I have been poopoo'ing him off a bit.  THEN, I was asked by one of my dear YouTuber friends if I was interested in doing a meatloaf collaboration video.  She had gotten 4 of us together and we each would share a version of meatloaf we enjoy!  It was the perfect opporutniy to share my Italian Meatloaf AND make my husband happy!  Win! Win!

This meatloaf might seem a little out in left field for you but if you aren't ready to try it with the eggs, do it without.  I encourage you though, to try it.  While I shouldn't give such secrets away, this mixture will make meatballs that your family and friends will beg you to make again and again!

2lbs ground beef
1lb Italian sausage
1cup breadcrumbs (plain or seasoned)
1/2 cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese2 eggs
2 tsp salt
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 cup marinara sauce
4-6 hard boiled eggs

Topping:
1/2 cup mozzarella
1/2 cup marinara

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
In a stand mixer or large mixing bowl combine all ingredients, for the meatloaf.  Mix with a hand mixer or let mix for 3-4 minutes (see video).

Place meat mixture into a backing pan and form into a loaf.  Make an indention in the middle and place eggs in a row.  Cover with meat mixture well to try and avoid it cracking.  If it does crack, no big deal!

Now to top the meatloaf, pour over 1/2 cup marinara, and bake for 66 minutes.  Remove meatloaf, add shredded mozzarella cheese and back another 10 minutes. 

Let rest for 5 minutes and enjoy!

Cheesy Blushed Chicken

Happy Saturday!  We got a little more snow.  I don't care how much "little" it is, I don''t want anymore!  I want about 70 degrees and sunny.  Oh my gosh, THAT is what I want!

I hope this finds you all doing well.  Everyone eating well?  I hope so and I hope this recipe will have you eating even better in the very near future!

My husband has decided in the last few years, he doesn't love red sauce anymore.  Once in awhile, but not on the regular.  I, on the other hand, could eat it daily.  He loves a good blush sauce so I decided to go this direction and holy moly was it a hit!  He has asked for it twice in one week.  All that means is next time I make a double batch for lots of leftovers AND a freezer meal too!  This recipe will get you dinner on the table in about 20-30 minutes.  You can buy chicken cutlets (thin cuts) or just cut regular boneless skinless breasts in half width wise so you get 2 thin cutlets from each piece.  My recipe will call for 3-4 boneless chicken breasts, that is a full thickness as I cut my own.

Let's get to the recipe shall we??  I made a video on this recipe as well so I will link it.  Don't forget to hit SUBSCRIBE on my YouTube Channel!

You will need:

3-4 bonless skinless chicken breasts cut into 5-8 cutlets
Olive oil
slat and pepper
23 oz jar of pasta sauce or 3-4 cups of your own homemade
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Fresh Basil or Parsley

In a high sided skillet drizzle soe olive oil and turn on heat.  When the skillet has heated up place your well salt and peppered chicken in and brown each side.  No need to cook all the way through at this point.  Brown up all sides of all pieces and remove from the pan.

Pour in your marinara, heavy cream, and grated parm.  Stir to combine.  Place chicken back into your sauce and cover.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes until chicken is completely cooked through.

Serve over a pasta or your choice or rice and don't forget to sprinkle with basil or parsley!

Enjoy this easy, DELISH meal on a weeknight or to enterain your friends!